Homeowner association residents speak out

Last week I looked at the proposed Pennsylvania House Bill 319, which aims to give property owners inside homeowners associations better access to association records.

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Posted Feb. 9, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Posted Feb. 9, 2013 at 12:01 AM

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Last week I looked at the proposed Pennsylvania House Bill 319, which aims to give property owners inside homeowners associations better access to association records.

This is an important issue in Pike, where more than half of the population lives inside association-run developments.

The law would require association records, with a few exceptions, to be accessible for inspection and duplication by owners.

I asked anyone who has been stymied trying to get association records to send me a note.

The response was overwhelming.

The letters were long and passionate. Many detailed specific situations so complicated that there is not enough room to get into it here, but there were some common threads.

It seems property owners are sometimes left feeling disenfranchised or trapped in their community. The problem often rests with residents feeling unrepresented by the elected board.

"These are people in care of your money. For that to be compromised, hidden, none of your business — that alone depreciates your property value — because who under these conditions would want to buy your house?" wrote one frustrated owner. "There needs to be a more economical remedy other than the courts for these people."

Readers spoke of a sense of hopelessness and distrust at fixing political problems inside their communities.

"Corruption and theft are rampant in these homeowners associations," one reader wrote. "The courts want absolutely nothing to do with HOA problems."

Indeed the courts have not always brought relief to owners.

One couple wrote about spending years in court seeking financial records to their association and said "intimidation tactics were applied but we don't back down."

"They were never forced to provide any documents they wished to hide"»The courts kept saying that there's no doubt something was wrong, but we didn't have standing to file the complaint in the first place. If a paying resident and member does not, who does?"

The couple added: "There are reasons HOAs and their officers do not wish to have documents inspected by their residents."

Jim Lane of the National Coalition for HOA Laws Reform and Regulation wrote that difficulty in accessing records is a nationwide problem.

Recently, Indiana passed a law saying owners have a right to any and all association documents, Lane said. The coalition is advocating for a similar law in North Carolina.

Although many homeowners associations are run efficiently, the most common comment from disgruntled readers this week was, if they could buy their home again, they would not choose to live in a private community.